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    TWO CHAPTERS ABOUT CHARWOMEN. 187

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    Chapter I. My Experiences Of The Class.

    had island Certainl left ; y yet her she she was native ran Eng land lish down in when her all her onl country y habits a few -folk , and weeks most no old wonder . unmercifull Her , for quick she y ,

    wit and indomitable cheerfulness were all she owed to her Hibernian blood blunders . B her y degrees " man" it made became during the her custom absence , for her , and to tell the us pains all the he niht when she went

    took to' haTe things comfortable at g home * which "We quite _toould entered wear into out before her anxiety it oug resp ht e and cting speculated little Billy how 's jacket long ,

    , Jack ' s boots would last , or whether he really would have to grieve his mother ' s sense of propriety by going barefoot until " the . And mother looked back

    father " should get work again . my on past times with more much than for ordinary hard regret , for with and them her five had little fled

    her power to do -working Mary children . I said we congratulated ourselves on the absence , of servants and

    the the pre clothes sence were of a all charwoman readto , but beg one in woeful washing Monday , I cam morning e down- , stairs when ,

    had as I a thoug sorrowful ht to let tale in to Mary tell y , . and It found was w her ritten little in his Jack scared instead face . , He all

    channelled over with tears and dirt , and he sobbed out , boring his in grimy bed and knuckles mother into couldn his eyes 't come the . " while This , th was at " the father last hair was . very Mary bad ' s

    stubborn back was bowed now , poor soul ! there was nothing for it but the parishfor she must stay at home and nurse the sick man .

    It was some comfort , that she found a reward for her willing , ungrumbling servitude , practised from house to house . Her

    employerseach gave a little aid to bring her through her time of trouble , and this sickness d the " dark hour before the dawning . " But we

    prove never had Mary ' s household services again . The good man got work and band by a still smaller edition of little Bill appeared ,

    so the house y -mother ' s hands were filled in her own home . We naturallhoweverapplied to Mary to recommend some one

    to take possession y , of the , vacated wash-tub and scrubbing-brush . Bat she would not recommend , she would only mention her

    neighbour Peggy Flannagan , who said " she'd be glad of a day ' s washing . " So we lost Maryand Peggy reigned in her stead . for some six

    weeks . I fancy I hear , her now , singing at her work . She began to singin fact she always was singingwithin an hour after

    sheentered , our house . She was eternally , " crooning" over old Irish airsand now and again she would supply the gap which

    treacherous , memory had left in the proper words , by tural-luralling , _andtootle-tootlein-to the tunes . Her voicenot unmelodious in itself

    had a rather comical g effect , coming out in , _jerlzs while Peggy was _* scrubbing a " flure . " At such times it rather resembled a set of

    spasmodic bagpipes , if you can imagine such things . Two of her favorite tunes were " The Girl I left behind me , " and " The Rambles d

    of Kitty . " and these melodies were invariably wafted parlor-war ,

    Two Chapters About Charwomen. 187

    TWO CHAPTERS ABOUT CHARWOMEN . 187

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), May 1, 1860, page 187, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01051860/page/43/